Imagine a kid with so much enthusiasm for entrepreneurship.
Bill Glaser was that kid. He said: “I was the kid with a lemonade stand. “I was the kid with a newspaper route. Any time I had samples of products, I would figure out a way to sell them. And I was always motivated by things that I wanted to buy. So I would see things in magazines and then figure out how do I get the money and figure out different ways to do that.” So, he was always an entrepreneur, a successful one at that, let’s study him.
We’re excited to announce that Bill will be speaking at the upcoming Capitalism Conference in April 2023.
In this article, we’ll take a look at Bill Glaser’s Profile, his company, achievements, and startup advice from him that would help you scale your startup.
Who is Bill Glaser?
Bill Glaser has been a serial entrepreneur since the age of five when he went door-to-door selling vegetable seeds and greeting cards to make money to buy toys!
His post-childhood career began as a financial advisor with storied Investment Banks before founding his financial firm and then founding several companies as an entrepreneur which included two 9-figure exits.
He studied at Ithaca college.
Bill Glaser is the Executive Vice President of Portfolio Management, Co-Chief Investment Officer, and a member of the Investment Policy Committee (IPC)
His latest booming venture, Outstanding Foods makes Addictively Delicious and Highly Nutritious plant-based foods. You are what you eat, so Be Outstanding!
What are the key achievements of Bill Glaser?
Bill Glaser is an enthusiastic entrepreneur with a “never give up” attitude. He started doing business over 32 years ago.
He is an investor who has raised over $200 Million including $40 Million for companies he’s founded; has taken several companies public, and has been involved with 2 companies that had $100 Million+ exits.
And now, he is the CEO of Outstanding Foods which makes tasty and healthy foods.
He has also been a board member of the Plants-Based Food Administration. There’s undoubtedly no way anyone would undermine his investing and financial marketing/intelligence skills. He was once the CEO of Namaste advisors.
What is Outstanding Foods Inc?
Outstanding Foods Inc is a plant-based food company that makes products that are good for You and the planet. It was founded by iconic Chef Dave Anderson and serial entrepreneur and healthy living enthusiast Bill Glaser.
Outstanding Foods’ mission: We make it easy for everyone to eat the foods they love with the nutrients they need. All our products are Addictively Delicious and Highly Nutritious so you can love the taste and experience of food and feel Outstanding.
Their foods range from snacks – Puffs, Cheese balls, Pig Out Crunches, and a variety of outstanding meals.
How Bill Glaser Raises Money
Bill Glaser believes that raising sufficient money is the key to building a successful startup. He raises money through seed funding. He builds great relationships with investors that in turn provide capital used to fund his startup.
BilI Glaser believes that if you’re a company that’s raising money, you should always raise more funds so you can cater to the various needs of your company.
Also, he would always do projections based on what he expected his company’s capital needs to be. No wonder why his company has a valuation of over $100 million.
Here’s a brilliant explanation he gave in his interview with Pat Flynn at SPI Podcast Session #118 –
“I started identifying the big names like Gary Vaynerchuks and I started identifying other social media superstars. And I tried to find what value I can offer them so that we can start having a relationship.
And once you have those relationships, later on, you can go for the ask whether it’s to sit on your advisory board or whether it’s to raise capital or, whether it’s to open up some type of door.
How Bill Glaser Builds Rockstar Teams
Bill Glaser once said, “I think every entrepreneur, every founder should be in the relationship business first before anything else. Relationships are the most important.”
He builds rockstar teams that are very efficient by building relationships with people. Bill uses his network as a tool to recruit workers and partner with influencers.
He gave a story one time, he said:
“There’s someone in marketing who accepted our offer and then after accepting our offer did a dishonest thing negotiating with another company and then ended up taking an offer with another company. He sent me an email today, months after he went to this other company, and wanting now to reconnect about potentially joining forces. So, I spoke to someone on my team today. I’m like, I’m not even replying to this guy because if you don’t act with integrity once, you can’t be trusted to act with integrity other times. And so, relationships are the most important thing.”
This shows that he looks at some certain qualities before he makes you a part of his team and one of them is Integrity. Undoubtedly, integrity and disciplined character are very key virtues you must possess to catch the eyes of great entrepreneurs who want to work with you.
Startup Advice from Bill Glaser
The best source of advice for Startups must be from someone with experience. Someone who has walked through the ropes of building a startup, the challenges, the failures, and the achievements.
And there’s one person that can give great startup advice and growth tips. He had two big exits and other smaller exits, he has increased the capital of his companies/other businesses and, built huge audience bases
Here’s startup advice from Bill Glaser:
Failure is not the end!
“Everyone knows in sales that the more nos … As you’re getting nos, you’re getting closer to your yes’s So, failures get you closer to your successes.” so said Bill Glaser.
Failure is not the end of your startup journey. You’ve got to embrace it because it’s a big part of the joyful story you’ll tell in the future.
Bill Glaser went on to say: “I embrace failure and you could look at failure as things didn’t work out, but if you embrace it, your failure is getting you closer to your success.”
It takes a “never die-hard” and “never give up” attitude to scale through the many challenges of building a startup business but this one bit of advice from Bill can make the journey easier for you.
Relationships first, that’s how you win!
Our Founder, Ryan Moran once said:
Bill Glaser makes so much emphasis on relationship building whenever he wants to give Startup advice.
Have a growth mindset.
Bill Glaser always ponders on building a growth mindset as a Startup founder. It’s more of just the mindset of putting yourself in a position to succeed and succeeding means that not always did we get that first serve in, but sometimes that 2nd chance is the ace.
You must have the courage to win and always be positive about every outcome.
Takeaway.
We admire Bill’s approach to business, because he casts a vision, raises the capital, and recruits a great team.
He partners with influencers, gives them upside, and ensures that the company executes upon its vision… no matter what.
That is The Owners Model playbook.
This will be a front row seat to an “Owners Model Case Study” that you can directly implement into your business.
The Owners Model can set you free to build the business that sets you free… without getting caught up in the annoying details.
That’s why meeting Bill can have such a profound impact on you and your business.
Bill joins a star-studded lineup with Jimmy Darts, Codie Sanchez, Shaan Puri, Tero from Four Sigmatic, and the CEO of Black Rifle Coffee Tom Davin.
